OPLS blog

Look, I know this isn’t new, but poor old Bernie Kraus seems to be ploughing a lonely furrow out there, so any reminder of the great work he’s doing to bring sound to geo-spatial web applications, such as Google Maps, can only be a good thing.

Perhaps, by viewing what he has here, students and teachers may be inspired to add to their own sounds to the mix. Or do playgrounds, for example, sound the same the world over?

Not in my experience they don’t. Language is an obvious difference, but there’s also ambient sound: traffic, or the absence of it; the changing of seasons and its impact on nature, eg cicadas in summer, leaves/no leaves on trees.

To hear what the IB World sounds like… Now there’s a thought.

In the meantime, have a listen to the man himself talking at last year’s Where 2.0 conference.

The next generation of the one laptop per child (OLPC) initiative (XO-2) was announced recently amid continuing controversy over its purpose and vision. Some images, though, of what it will look like below.

I think the move towards e-book functionality is interesting and I look forward to its interim (XO-1.5) release in 2009.

Apparently, Negroponte said at the launch, “Some people have asked me why not just give kids cell phones? And in fact there will be 1.2 billion cell phones manufactured this year, and cell phones are of huge consequence in the developing world - but the cell phone is not a learning device. The next generation laptop should be a book.”

“… the cell phone is not a learning device[!]” Come on, Nick. I admire what you’re trying to do here, but please don’t ignore the significant role mobile phones can play in teaching and learning. So, if you’re reading this, you might want to have a look at this post (and the ensuing comments) from Ewan McIntosh.

Someone from the OLPC stable who does seem to have a good understanding of education is Walter Bender, the man behind the Sugar user interface on all OLPC machines. He’s got some interesting things to say regarding how software for the OLPC is designed around constructionist theories of interactive learning and believes strongly in the need to open up development in this area to the open-source community. I encourage you to have a look at an interview Xconomy did with him here.

It’s being discussed again. What’s the equivalent of a 1500-word essay, given the possibilities of new digital literacies?

Quoting from Heppell, Ewan McIntosh has revived the discussion here, in relation to measuring creativity. Please add your views.

If we go back to first principles, then command terms reflecting Bloom’s classic taxonomy (at least those relating to the cognitive domain) such as analyse, explain, synthesise, etc can all be carried out quite successfully using a blog, for example. They make great tools for peer- and self-evaluation in these areas too.

Furthermore, are there many better tools to aid constructivist learning, and to demonstrate evidence of it, than a wiki? With the ability to discuss the knowledge you’re creating in a collaborative context, to link to, and pull in, complementing material, and to construct knowledge over time, I posit not. Please feel free to disagree though…

In essence, then, those of us involved in curriculum and assessment design are being challenged to come up with new models that are both relevant and meaningful to students in the 21st century. And I know from discussions with colleagues here in IB Cardiff, that this is just as exigent for us as it is for leadership and teachers in our schools.

We are all being given a tremendous opportunity.  Let’s hope we don’t blow it.